Farming While Black [B2272]

2018 PB (10x8-inches) in Gift-Worthy condition. Recipient of the 28th Heinz Awards for the Economy * James Beard Foundation Leadership Award 2019 * Choice Reviews, Outstanding Academic Title * "An extraordinary book...part agricultural guide, part revolutionary manifesto."-VOGUE * Named a "Best Book on Sustainable Living and Sustainability" by Book Riot. In 1920, 14 percent of all land-owning US farmers were black. Today less than 2 percent of farms are controlled by black people-a loss of over 14 million acres and the result of discrimination and dispossession. While farm management is among the whitest of professions, farm labor is predominantly brown and exploited, and people of color disproportionately live in "food apartheid" neighborhoods and suffer from diet-related illness. The system is built on stolen land and stolen labor and needs a redesign.

Farming While Black is the first comprehensive "how to" guide for aspiring African-heritage growers to reclaim their dignity as agriculturists and for all farmers to understand the distinct, technical contributions of African-heritage people to sustainable agriculture. At Soul Fire Farm, author Leah Penniman co-created the Black and Latino Farmers Immersion (BLFI) program as a container for new farmers to share growing skills in a culturally relevant and supportive environment led by people of color. Farming While Black organizes and expands upon the curriculum of the BLFI to provide readers with a concise guide to all aspects of small-scale farming, from business planning to preserving the harvest. Throughout the chapters Penniman uplifts the wisdom of the African diasporic farmers and activists whose work informs the techniques described--from whole farm planning, soil fertility, seed selection, and agroecology, to using whole foods in culturally appropriate recipes, sharing stories of ancestors, and tools for healing from the trauma associated with slavery and economic exploitation on the land. Woven throughout the book is the story of Soul Fire Farm, a national leader in the food justice movement.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "It's a wonderful guide book for black farmers, a generally great guide to farming, and also with great information for how non-blacks can be allies to black farmers. Plus it's worth reading this for a good discussion of food Justice."; "What a nourishing read..."; "Best parts of this book, to me: historical context of racism and land ownership and cultivation; incredibly detailed practical how-tos of soil selection and care, crop selection and maintenance, animal husbandry; and info about organizations bringing justice to all of these topics."